Music discoveries: James Keyes, Cate Le Bon, Still Corners

You know something? There is nothing more fortuitous than stumbling across James Keyes' song “Roll With the Punches” at the end of a long Wednesday.

Keyes, a heavy hitter in the local music scene, playing both solo and with the punk band the Numbskulls, is well in his wheelhouse with this deep blues rumbler, a musical trip to the Mississippi Delta by way of Tom Waits' broken down pickup truck, and, frankly, it's magnificent.
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“You have to sleep the sleep of the dead,” sings Keyes, “if you want to wake up from your dreams.” As always, his deep voice brings a gravitas to the song, a substance that just adds to the song's, ahem, punch. According to a note on his Facebook page, the song was recorded for his forthcoming album.

Taking it down a notch, Welsh singer Cate Le Bon's new song with Seattle-based musician Perfume Genius, “I Think I Knew,” is both wistful and soulful.

It's a terribly sad little song, and its sheer prettiness doesn't undercut its sense of loss at all. “What did you want,” sings Genius. “Everything,” replies Le Bon, and there's an ache that echoes through the call and response, a pain that permeates through the icicle-delicate refrain, “I think I knew, I think I knew, I think I knew.”

Rounding things out, Still Corners has a new video for its dreamy, electro-pop song, “Fireflies.”

The song is lush and languid, and the video much the same. For all its ethereal detachment, there's something substantive in singer Tessa Murray's voice, a solid timbre that keeps the song grounded enough to hold on to.

Lastly, it's not a song, but if you haven't watched the video of RuPaul and Henry Rollins driving around Los Angeles and talking about life, then you really need to check it out, because it's absolutely delightful. While there are a couple of casual swear words (courtesy of Hank, naturally), the odd couple mostly just discuss fame and Rollins' abysmal love life, which is far more gently entertaining than you'd think it would be. (Victor D. Infante)